Iranian Journal of

Backgrounds and Objectives: True cholera with typical clinical features nearly always occurs by serologic groups O1 and O139 but the non-O1 group can produce a disease with same clinical characteristic sporadically. According to the important of climate and environmental conditions in the distribution and abundance of Vibrio cholera, in this study, the distribution of the serologic group was evaluated in different parts of Qom city with relation to the affected patients.
Materials and Methods: In this study 5220 environmental specimens were taken from 12 parts of Qom city and during different seasons of the year 1325, 60 clinical specimens were taken from the patients and all were evaluated for Vibrio cholera with standard methods. The study was of Descriptive and cross sectional and the results were analyzed with statistical soft ware (Epi-info).
Results: The most abundance of Nag strains were related to Emamzadeh Ebrahim and Sheikhabad parts and Shahed Street from Khak faraj and Niroogah area and the least abundance were related to Salariyeh area. The abundance distribution of Nag strain, 7 different specimens was most in hogwash, sewerage and vegetables and least in pipe water which reveal a significant difference (P< 0.05) according to statistical goodness of fit test. The frequency distribution of the patients in each part of area 4 with relevance to sex revealed that the most contamination percentage was attributed to Emamzadeh Ebrahim and Sheikhabad and Shahed from Niroogah area and no positive specimen was taken from Haftado-do-tan and Shahrdary areas.
Conclusion: According to high occurrence of the disease in same areas, and results from other researchers based on increased frequency of non-O1 strains in the environment during the epidemic, so can release a connection between Vibrio cholera O1 strains and non-O1 strains to conclude. On the other hand, none of the clinical and environmental samples, Vibrio cholera O1 was isolated, so probably human carriers in Qom, not the main factor is the emergence of this disease.

Background and Objectives: Air pollution and its effects on human health had become a major concern of many healthcare centers decision makers. In this study, air pollution effect on variation of Glycosylated Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) level in diabetic patients was evaluated, which is a unique study in Iran and Middle East region.
Materials and Methods: During November-January 2010-11, Tehran, capital of Iran, was exposed with high levels of air pollution. A retrospective cohort study was carried out on 330 patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus for at least 12 months referring to 3 endocrinal care clinics. A questionnaire in two demographic and diabetic related sections was prepared. The patients' HbA1C level recorded on November-January 2009-10 was compared with November-January 2010-11. Descriptive analysis and paired t-test were carried out using SPSS 18 software.
Results: The patients investigated were divided into two groups. The first group was composed of 108 patients (53.7% female and 46.3% male) with diabetes mellitus type I (Insulin Dependent), age mean of 17.22, and SD of 11.57. The second group was composed of 222 patients (58.6% female and 41.4% male) with diabetes mellitus type II (Noninsulin Dependent), age mean of 53.91, and SD of 12.12. The change of HbAIC level in both groups wa not statistically significant in first group, HbA1C level increased from 7.71 to 7.75 mg / 100 ml (P =0.828) and in second group, it increased from 7.06 to 7.08 mg / 100 ml (P = 0.798).
Conclusion: According to the results obtained, it can be concluded that relation of air pollution and HbA1C mean variation in diabetic patients was insignificant.

Background and Objectives: As a green fuel and environmentally friendly energy, biodiesel has recently attracted much attention and efforts are ongoing to optimizing biodiesel production from microalgae’s. The aim of this study was to determine the appropriate method of dewatering and drying biomass and selecting a suitable organic solvent for extraction lipids from biomass. Materials and Methods: After culturing Nannochloropsis Oculata in Gillard F/2 medium and reaching at the end of the stationary growth phase, algal biomass was separated from aqueous by centrifuge and drying in three methods: fore, air-dried and lyophilized. Lipid extractions of each sample was performed using soxhlet apparatus and three solvents including diethyl ether, n-hexane and n-pentane. At each stage, the quantity and quality of the extracted lipids was determined by gas chromatography. Results: In all three drying methods, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid were significantly the main fatty acid composition of microalgae. The fatty acid composition of palmitic acid extracted by diethyl ether was significantly more than the other two solvents. Maximum production of triglyceride was observed in air dried and lyophilized (using diethyl ether solvent) microalgae as 75.03 and 76.72 % of fatty acid respectively. Conclusion: The use of lyophilized method for dewatering and drying of biomass and diethyl ether as solvent for the extraction of lipids from biomass yielded more compared with other methods studied in this paper and would be more efficient in research works related to the production of biodiesel from microalgae’s lipid.

Background & Objectives: Dust storms happening frequently in arid and semiarid regions of the world carry huge amount of particulate matters hence, these are recognized as one of the most important environmental issues at regional and international scales. This study aimed to evaluate heavy metals laden dustfall particles in Sanandaj, Khoramabad, and Andimeshk cities, West Iran. Materials & Methods: Sampling of dustfall particles was conducted once every 10 days from June 20, 2012 for one year at three stations of Sanandaj, Khorramabad, and Andimeshk simultaneously using Deposit Gauge Method. The concentration of Fe and Mn were measured using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy was used for analyzing Ni, Cr, Ag, As, Cu, and Zn. Then, pollution levels for the heavy metals were evaluated using Geo-Accumulation Index (Igeo) and Integrated Pollution Index (IPI). Mineralogy and morphology of the dustfall particles were inspected using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Results: Igeo index indicated that levels of pollution for Ag and Cu were higher than As and Zn among the dustfall particles of the three stations whereas the concentrations of the other heavy metals were not evaluated as contaminant. Moreover, means of IPI values calculated for stations of Sanandaj, Khorramabad, and Andimeshk were 2.86, 1.55 and 1.40 respectively. X-ray diffraction revealed abundance of silicate (quartz) and carbonate (calcite) minerals in dustfall particles. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy emphasized on similarity of shape of dustfall particles in the three stations. Conclusion: Although mean of dustfall particles on area unit in Sanandaj station was less than Khorramabad and Andimeshk, heavy metals concentration was relatively higher among the sampled dustfall particles.